TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - Bates Technical College is paying $500,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by students who said the school's civil engineering technician and surveying program left them wholly unprepared for the job market.

Thaddeus P. Martin, a lawyer who represented the 16 students, announced the settlement on Friday. College President David Borofsky told The News Tribune it was "good for the college and good for the people involved."

The students filed the lawsuit in February 2007, saying the lead instructor frequently failed to show up for class. One student, Michael Edmundson, said in a court affidavit this month he was embarrassingly unprepared for work, and was told as much by potential employers.

The settlement is the third time since 2002 the college has made such payouts.

In 2002, Bates agreed to pay out $1.25 million to 15 former students of its denturist program, and last year, it agreed to pay students in its court-reporting program $170,000.